Lowered B Body Info & Pics

[superbird77]

Does anyone have pics of their B bodies that they have lowered? I am specifically looking to lower my 69 RR a bit and wondered what i can expect it to look like. My plan is to get 1 inch lowered rear leaf springs and the 2 inch drop spindles. From my research i've been told to use the drop spindles instead of adjusting the torsion bars. I will be most likely installing 18 inch wheels as well. If anyone has advice or tips on the subject i would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Jim Bob The Dancing Bear]

What other suspension mods do you plan?

I did a Hotchkis TVS and it dropped my car an 1" or better. The rear had aftermarket shackles that stuck it up even higher when I purchased it.

I have 18" Cragar SS rims to put on the car with new disck brakes but that work is in process and not complete.

The pictures are before / after and before / after.



- - - Updated - - -

I lowered by front with the torsion bars but I have firm feel 1.06" torsion bars. I drive the car daily (when it isn't down for upgrades) and have no issues with lowering the car this way.

Shawn

 

[superbird77]

I do plan on installing new torsion bars and possibly tubular UCA's in case camber is an issue with the stock UCA's.

 

[HYRDGOON]

I'm dropping my front end with the torsion bars to get it to sit a bit more level in a lowered stance. I'd eventually like to do the 2" drop spindles but for the cost it's just not in the budget right now.

Look at page 8 & 9 of Jeff Ashley's Roadrunner build his is about the stance I'm looking for and sounds like what you describe http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...augh-its-paid-for/page9&highlight=jeff+ashley

 

[Boise68]

More or less did the same as Jim Bob, Hotchkis (road race)rear leaf, torsion bars and adjusted the front end height with the torsion bars. Wanting additional camber I went with FirmFeel uca's and added boxing to the lower control arms. Also went with 18" rims and modern tire technology. It is now very fun to drive. Can't forget total front end rebuild with PST poly kit, too.

Before


After

 

[Jim Bob The Dancing Bear]

I may go lower in the back to flaten the car out but I need the 18's on first. I would not go with the 2" drop spindles if you are going to up the torsion bar size to the 1" range or higher. There are a few people on this site that have gone that route only to go back to stock height spindles when doing the rest of the upgrades. If you take the time to plan out your build you will be dollars ahead in the end.

Tubular control arms or the offset bushings are the way to go. It all depends on how you plan on driving the car really. For a-arms there are Hotchkis, PST, Firm Feel, and a couple of others.

 

[superbird77]

Good info guys, thanks. Both Boise68's and Jeff's cars look to be what i am going for. My biggest question is to either use the tubular UCA's and lower it via the torsion bars or go the 2 inch dropped spindles route. The spindles are kinda pricey so if i could get away with using new tubular UCA's and new torsion bars that would be ideal. I've been told the main issue with just lowering the bars is having enough camber adjustment, i wonder if using the tubular UCA's would remedy this issue? The PST units seem to have more camber adjustment built in than stock units.

 

[Jim Bob The Dancing Bear]

If you look at PST, Hotchkis, Firm Feel, and QA1 upper control arms, only one has adjustment. The rest do help greatly with the geometry of the upper control arms but are fixed except the typical concentric adjusters.

http://www.p-s-t.com/s.nl/it.A/id.7113/.f?sc=12

http://www.hotchkis.net/dodge_b_e_body_geometry_corrected_tubular_upper_aarms.html

http://www.firmfeel.com/tubuca_b.htm

http://www.qa1.net/qa1_motorsports/...mponents/control-arms/mopar-control-arms.html

There is another company out there makeing some with even more adjustment but I can not remember their name. The top 3 listed here are some of the most used on this board and a few boards I visit.

XV motorsports is another company but I haven't heard anything about them in a while and their website is not working.

 

[Boise68]

I am no expert with performance suspension tuning, so I went with some basic info from allpar.com and also talked with Dick from FirmFeel. So the concern isn't camber as much as caster for handling and steering feel/response. See the image from allpar.com below.

View attachment 173425

Even though FirmFeel uca's are not 'adjustable' their geometry is spot-on and works just utilizing the built-in adjustability of the mopar front suspension. Using level and string I initially had the caster set at 5, and that felt great, but I settled for 4. Here is my alignment profile with the FirmFeel uppers. It is important to know what you want in your setup. Some alignment shops will not vary from factory settings so bringing some aftermarket 'charts' such as allpar's might be helpful.

 

[67 coronet]

https://www.reillymotorsports.com/store/product.php?productid=16165&cat=265&page=1if you are really worried about the camber issue try these guys.got em on my 67,dump load of camber adjust.View attachment 173438put the pic in for fun.

 

[72rdrnnr]

I lowered my 72' Satellite 2".

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

The member on here with username Red Stripe has a Charger that's lowered about how much you're talking about and looks killer, 17" front/18" rear staggered wheels like the Mr.Angry '68 Charger and mine too. I haven't gotten around to the rear lowering yet but for now I'm just lowered with the tbars and going to machine 1-1/2" lowering blocks for the rear (still need to get tubular uca's too). Worked good for Mr.Angry so should work alright for me too haha

http://youtu.be/F9xM-UM-vhw

My car:

 

[Grabinov911]

Mine is Firm Feel with Magnum Force 2" dropped spindles and 1.03" torsion bars. I'm also at 4 degrees of caster and the car handles like a slot car! I like the look on 15's but am looking for a set of 18's also for road performance - you just can't get tires for 15's any more unless you're a drag racer, or a Prius...

The cardboard on the floor is because my wife's (new) Volvo leaks. Roadrunner is fine though!

More details in my threads if you want them. Looking for a better pic, but for now:

 

[mopar505]

Mine is Firm Feel with Magnum Force 2" dropped spindles and 1.03" torsion bars. I'm also at 4 degrees of caster and the car handles like a slot car! I like the look on 15's but am looking for a set of 18's also for road performance - you just can't get tires for 15's any more unless you're a drag racer, or a Prius...

The cardboard on the floor is because my wife's (new) Volvo leaks. Roadrunner is fine though!

More details in my threads if you want them. Looking for a better pic, but for now:

View attachment 173523View attachment 173524

that has a nice stance, 18,s may be too much. might look at 17,s as option.

 

[BDL]

'66 Charger

I went with the quick and easy way to lower my '66 Charger. I loosened the torsion keys on the front and used 2" blocks in the rear. Of course, that went too far in the rear, so I put some air shocks back there so I could adjust as needed depending on luggage and passengers.

 

[kevin403]

Street lynx
20x10 with 285/30/20

 

[Jonnyuma]

Okay...it aint a Charger or Road Runner, but it IS a B body and it IS lowered. Iso-junk is gone, 3 leaves per side gone (****, it HAD 6), ripped some 2" blocks down to 1.25" to get it too low, and use air shocks to get the ride height where I want it...similar to what BDL did. The anti-air shock crowd will no doubt weigh in here, but the shocks only raise the rear 1 to 2 inches before the leaf springs take over, and my junk aint rusty. AirRide Shockwaves operate offa the same principle, they're just more expensive. Mine are Gabriels. The front came down via the T-bars, but if you go too far the camber gets all wonky. Not so much a problem with the older cars due to the UCA eccentrics, but the later cars (like mine) don't have that. Dropped spindles are probably the better way to go if'n they're available. BTW, in the picture my air shocks are all the way down. Ride height in the rear is a bit higher than that. The second arty-farty picture is closer to what actual ride-height is...

 

[tallhair]

Anyone use PST tubular UCAs? What's the upside / downside with those?

Is the geometry diff than stock and are they similar to FF's UCAs?

 

[HYRDGOON]

View attachment 175109View attachment 175110

Street lynx
20x10 with 285/30/20

Those rims are DOPE!!

 

[tallhair]

Street lynx
20x10 with 285/30/20

Those rims do look good .. and that paint is pretty electric .. I love it